Think Outside the Missions Box

United Nations Investigates Rohingya Treatment

The United Nations is doing an investigation to see whether the treatment of the Rohingya amounts to human rights violations.

Per CNN, “Tens of thousands of members of Myanmar’s Muslim minority have left in this fashion, and their treatment may amount to ‘crimes against humanity,’ warns UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee.”

About 70,000 people have fled Myanmar and the UN is investigating the humiliating treatment of the Rohingya.

BBC reports, “Some 70,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh in the last six months, and the UN has gathered accounts of gang rapes and mass killings.”

Many of the Rohingya have risked their lives in order to escape the brutal military.

CNN explains, “They trek for miles along a dangerous route — risking drowning, disease and capture by the military — to cross the border into neighboring Bangladesh, where refugee camps provide temporary shelter.”

Rohingya say the mass killing is a crackdown on those who killed border guards back in October in the Rakhine state.

BBC states, “The Rohingya say they are being targeted amid a military crackdown on insurgents in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state. The campaign was launched after nine border policemen were killed in an attack in October.”

Those who have suffered the most are the old men. They’ve seem their whole family killed right in front of their eyes.

CNN reports, “‘What really struck me was when old men started to break down in tears in front of me and sob,’ she said, when interviewed on CNN’s Newstream on Monday. ‘(They were) telling me they’ve seen their whole family killed in front of their eyes.’”

About half of those interviewed had family members killed and 52 women had been raped.

Per BBC, “Nearly half of those interviewed by the UN said a family member had been killed. Of 101 women interviewed, 52 said they had been raped or experienced sexual violence from the security forces.”

Spokeswoman Aye Aye Soe got the report from the UN and was deeply concerned about the human rights abuses done by the military.

CNN explains, “Myanmar government spokeswoman Aye Aye Soe said the administration is ‘deeply concerned by reports of potential human rights abuses and have already set up an Investigation Commission led by Vice President U Myint Swe.’”

MTW sends interns to the Rohingya to share Christ’s hope with them and to show they are valued.

MTW states, “They are extorted by traffickers, detained by governments, trapped at sea, hiding in the jungles, invisible in the city—a people without citizenship and work visas, and without the good news of Jesus. We need interns who can work with us to bring mercy and the gospel through teaching English, tutoring, art and music outreach, sports, and just a willingness to build relationships of trust.”

Pray for the Rohingya to learn of Christ’s hope and they’re valued. Pray for an end to the human rights abuses done by the military. Pray for the government to acknowledge and fix abuses.

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